Peta the Brave

Act 1, Chapter 7

Peta gazed down at the laptop screen and felt ill. She had done a silly thing. She checked Facebook for signs of Sam. Well, that wasn't quite what she had done. Sam had actually blocked her on Facebook and Instagram, and what she had done was use Hans' account to spy on him.

He was getting married. She now knew the date and the location from a friend of Sam's holding up the invite to the camera at one of the drinks parties where they had given out the invites. Scotland. Scotland! It was so far away, a good 750 miles from London. The wedding venue looked beautiful, an ancient country estate next to one of the largest lochs in the country.

The woman he was marrying... goodness. She was stunning. Shorter than him, and her for that matter, but she had a smile that could launch a thousand ships. A real Helen of Troy look. She was also a doctor. A Doctor! Peta squirmed. Here she was, not even close to taking her captain's exam, only just becoming a co-pilot, and Sam was marrying a doctor, a full-on surgeon and all-around good egg.

Yes, she looked up Nadia as well. It was sickening. A full-on child prodigy, early university place, early application to consultant, the whole shebang.

"What are you doing?" Hans asked, holding Annika in his arms, looking over her shoulder. "You're not still hung up on him, are you?"

"Ja," Peta said, sadly.

"It's been three years, Peta. He hasn't spoken to you in three years. I think it's time to give up, isn't it?"

"What if I turned up at the wedding?" Peta said.

He laughed. "I think you'd find the Arabs and the Brits might murder you," he said. "They very clearly adore them as a couple."

Peta shook her head. "He should be with me, not her."

"Then you should have said yes to him when he asked you," Hans responded, gently burping Annika. He called to Christophe to bring her bottle. Peta looked at her husband fondly, seeing how much he had grown with Annika.

It was strange, she thought, that Annika's dark curly hair hadn't gone blonde yet, like both of theirs had done. Annika's blue eyes could have come from either side of their family, in fairness, Peta was sure of that.

"Here you go, Annika," Christophe bustled in, passing the bottle to Hans.

"We do live a very odd life," Peta mused. "Our daughter, two fathers, we're not married anymore but we live together."

"If it works, it works," Christophe said with a smile. He went up to Annika and pulled some faces. Annika giggled, hiding her face, but peeking out to see him.

"Look," Hans said, passing Annika to Christophe, "if you feel that strongly, then you need to go. You need to talk to him. But phoning him would be easier, no?"

"I tried before," Peta said. "I got through on his phone but I got his fiancée. I think she recognized my accent. She must have blocked the number."

"Fair play to her," Hans said. "She is probably well aware that the only thing which could tank this wedding is you."

Peta snorted. "That's not true."

"Yes, it is. He only ever had eyes for you."

"If that was true," Peta responded, "he wouldn't be getting married."

"Pet, we just had two years of covid lockdowns, he's in his late 30s now," Hans said. "He wanted kids and he's going to have them, with someone else if he needs to. You gave up on him, not the other way around. Don't you see that? You pushed him into this." And, he added, "he probably does love her. Look at her. Look at what you've read. Wouldn't you love her?"

Peta shrugged. That was a clear "yes."

"Look," Hans said, "I know this hurts. But you've got to let him go. That's the only way."

"The wedding is in two days anyway. How would you even get there? Get the overnight train to Paris, bike to Calais, get on the Le Shuttle, then M20, M25, M40, M6 and straight up to Scotland?" Hans said. "How would that even work?"

Peta looked at him sharply. "How do you know all of that?"

"I booked your train tickets and the luggage car for the motorbike about twenty minutes ago," Hans responded. "GO. Go get packed and go."

Peta stared at him. "Hans..."

"I want you to be happy, and Annika wants you to be happy. Go and be happy, please. Go get him."

Peta stood up and embraced him. "Hans, thank you," she whispered.

"GO," Hans laughed. "Go get dressed, pack the panniers on the bike, and then say goodbye to us outside."

Peta scrambled around the house, grabbing as much as she could to travel as light as possible. She opened one of the cupboards and grabbed some of the camping gear. Something tinkled and fell out. She looked down. It was a badge. Stooping down to pick it up, she realized it was the Brands Hatch pin Sam had bought her all those years ago. It had to be a sign.

She pinned it to her bag, grabbed the tent (another of Sam's things she had kept), and headed for the garage, packing the Vincent's panniers quickly. She pulled on the old leathers, kicked down the starter, and revved the bike slowly, moving it down to the front of the house, where it idled grumpily.

Hans, Christophe, and Annika stood there, waiting. "Goodbye, my angel," Peta said, going to Annika and kissing each cheek. "Be good for your father."

Annika nodded, holding her bear tightly.

Hans and Christophe embraced her. "You go get him, fraulein," Christophe said.

"Let us know when you get to each section of the trip," Hans said, passing her a bottle of water to take with her.

"Danke, Hans," Peta said gratefully.

She mounted the bike, revved the engine, and, skidding across the gravel, blasted onto the tarmac road and shot down the hill. The two men and the little girl waved until she was finally out of sight.

***

The first part of the journey took longer than she'd expected. Sleeping on the train to Paris wasn't possible, she'd had to change trains three times. When she got to Paris, she was running tired, but had to drive to Calais. This was the bit she knew she could make up time.

Her late father's old Vincent motorcycle was running beautifully, and Peta couldn't work out why. It was normally always overheating on long journeys, but today it was running like a dream. Stopping for petrol, curiosity got the better of her, and she examined it all over.

Sam's calling card was all over the bike: new lines, virtually every part had been cleaned and refitted. She hadn't realised it before, but he'd also polished up the restoration plaque that her late father had fitted.

When did he have time to do all of this, when we were together? She wondered, marvelling at the condition of the saddle. Then she saw it: an apple green tag, sticking out of the leather's seam. She turned it over - it read "Sam Maillard - 2016".

He'd done all of this in one afternoon in June 2016. He must have planned the whole thing. Peta's heart melted. How had she let him slip from her hands?

She reached Calais just as darkness was falling, and managed to get into the queue for the Le Shuttle. There were hundreds of cars and families from all over, French, German, British, a few Italians. She seemed to have the only Austrian registered motorbike, of course.

The tannoy registered a delay due to the late running of a Eurostar ahead of them. Peta groaned. She'd wanted a rest before driving up to Scotland in the dark. It didn't look like it was going to be possible. She glanced down at her phone and messaged Hans. Going to be late into Britain, she wrote. Will camp for a few hours then drive, and then camp again closer to the north.

Hans wrote back quickly. Okay, let us know when you get up there. Annika says she loves you.

I love her too, Peta wrote back.

The tannoy went again. Relief washed over her. They had started boarding. Peta revved the bike and moved it onto the train via the end loading ramp. She would be first out of the train, and hopefully get a head start on any traffic.

The Le Shuttle seemed to take an age to load everyone. Peta lent against the wall of the train and dozed. There was a judder, far too soon, and she woke, realising the train was finally moving. She took a sip from the water bottle, grateful for Hans' thoughtfulness. This had been a tiring journey. She opened her bag, and took her mirror out, looking at herself and wincing as she noted the black eyes from tiredness. I hope he sees through the tiredness, she thought.

The darkness of the channel tunnel soon gave way to the darkness of England, and the speckle of lights of the countryside at night. The Le Shuttle pulled up a little abruptly, and Peta had to dive down to grab the bike from falling over.

The shuttle's doors started to open, and Peta revved aggressively, before disembarking, and flying up the ramp to the first roundabout, before turning onto the M20 and heading up towards London.

Junction five of the M25, she turned onto it, and passed the sign for Bexley. The familiarity of their old haunts came back to her, and she made sure she was doing seventy at the speed camera past the Orpington turn off before she picked up the pace, and started the long journey northwards at last.

Every bit of the journey seemed like a reminder of the life she had led and could lead. Flying past Bicester Village on the M40, remembering the pub lunch they'd had. Not much lunch was eaten that time, it was mostly Sam kissing her neck...Getting onto the M6 and passing Birmingham, surprising Sam at his work do and then having sex in the Think Tank Museum...the closer she got to Scotland, the more the memories flowed.

Every kiss, every fuck, every laugh and every sleep together.

The dawn was breaking as she crossed the border into Scotland, and driving up past the West Coast mainline, she recognised the smoke trail of a steam train, running over it, a rare occurrence.

The Vincent was running well still, and she quickly caught the train, overtaking it as the mountains of Scotland started to rise on the horizon. Sam would have told her all about it if he were here, she mused, leaving the dark green steam engine and its bright red coaches in her wake.

The sun was rising as she made it to the Loch, and slowly took the narrow road around it. The air was clear and crisp, the wind cold, and the sky blazed red and pink. She could see the venue in the distance, but that wasn't where she was going to stop. There was a wild camping area just up the road, she'd camp there and then walk down once she'd slept.

The tent went up quickly, and Peta laid down to sleep even quicker. She set her alarm. A good four or five hours would do.

***

She washed in the lake, making sure no one was around to see her. She hadn't felt this free for a very long time. Peta sighed, pushing off into the water of the loch, naked and relaxed. She looked out across the loch. There were cars driving the other side, about a mile away. She was alone, floating in the dark murky lake. She lent her head back, her blonde hair soaking into the soft water of the loch.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Peta turned, covering her breasts, staring up to the shore.

He was in his running gear. Bright yellow shirt, as always, bright yellow trainers, as always, but instead of the usual bright blue shorts, he was wearing jet black, with bright yellow stripes down each side. You couldn't miss him.

"Peta," Sam said, staring at his former lover as she emerged from the lake, "what in the flying fuck are you doing here?"

"I drove up to stop the wedding," Peta said, walking past him and grabbing her towel, covering herself up. "Good to see you too."

Sam stared at her, his hands on his hips. Then he did something unexpected. He walked up to her and hugged her. "It is good to see you," he said, holding her close. "But you can't stop the wedding, I am already married."

Peta let out a quiet "oh". They embraced for some time, heads against each other. Peta could feel him through her towel and smiled. Nothing changed. There was the familiar bulge.

"Get in the tent," she urged, taking his hand and pulling him in. "Explain it all to me."

"We got registered a year ago. This is the post-covid catch-up big spending wedding," Sam explained.

Peta nodded. She felt foolish. She started to dry her hair off with the smaller towel and huddled herself on the tent floor.

"You wanted to stop the wedding?" Sam asked.

"I was Facebook stalking you," Peta muttered. "I have... had... have feelings for you still."

Sam looked at her with a frown. "Haven't you had a child with Hans?"

"Yes, Annika." Peta handed him her phone. Her phone's background was Annika, sitting in her high chair, smiling with her blue eyes.

"She's beautiful. Lovely dark curly hair," Sam said, gazing down at the little girl. He looked at Peta and laughed.

"Why are we always one bad decision away from being together?"

Peta's lips wobbled. She was on the verge of tears.

"Don't cry, Pet..." Sam crawled over to her and held her close.

Peta put her head on his chest, and Sam rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I never thought I'd see you naked again," he admitted, trying to lighten the tension. "You know doing stuff like rising up naked out of a lake in England normally leads to someone becoming king?"

"We're in Scotland," Peta muttered, "and I don't have a sword."

"That's true," he said.

"Did you like what you saw...?" Peta said hopefully.

Sam laughed. "Always. You always look amazing."

"Even after Annika?"

Sam looked at her, exasperated. "If anything, more beautiful," he said.

Peta paused, then pulled her towel down, revealing her breasts.

"Put those away," Sam laughed, turning away. But his hand wandered and started to fondle them. He turned back to look at her. His eyes were blazing, like they'd always done... she looked down. His running shorts had become a tent, inside her tent.

"Oh my..." she said, undoing his shorts, and pulling his erection out. "Still hard for me..." Sam was panting, staring at her. He was clearly conflicted.

"We shouldn't do this..." he said, pulling off his shirt.

"No, we shouldn't," Peta said, unwrapping the whole of her towel, and spreading her legs for him, staring into his eyes.

Sam's penis hovered over Peta, hard, girthy, with veins running down its shaft. Peta stared into his eyes. The moment seemed to last forever. A bead of precum welled up at his tip and slipped down onto the floor.

That was their cue. Sam grabbed his shaft, and put his tip inside Peta. Peta spread herself and pulled him close, and they had sex, hard, on the floor of the tent.

"Ja, ja...oh, Sam," Peta gasped, holding him close, "I have missed you so much!"

"I never stopped loving you," Sam panted, his naked frame thumping Peta into the ground, "I want you so much, give me everything."

The sex was fast and furious, Peta grinding her hips upwards as he ground his erection downwards and deep inside her vagina. They moaned, writhed, and with a single joint moment, Sam threw his head back and ejaculated, loudly, inside her, and Peta came, spraying his groin, almost screaming with ecstasy.

"AAAAAAHHHHH".

"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA".

They were breathing deeply, looking into each other's eyes.

Sam moved first, kissing her, pulling her closer. His dick squelched, gloriously, beneath them, slipping back and forth as he started to thrust again.

"Nein, Nein", Peta panted. "From behind..."

Sam pulled out, his white sticky come dripping out in globules from Peta's red pussy, and turned her over. He laid down behind her and raised her leg, reinserting himself inside her.

"Ja, ja," Peta gasped, as he fucked her from behind, swaying his hips back and forth against her as his dick penetrated her. Her beautiful bottom reddened with each slap of his groin against it. He was reddening too, in the face, moaning and gripping her tightly with his hands.

He turned and pushed her onto her front, and Peta felt the come squeeze between her and the floor of the tent. She pushed her bottom into the air, and that was Sam's cue to fuck her, harder, from behind. The sound of slaps, groin on buttock, rung round them as Sam furiously beat his dick inside her, pushing her down into the floor, as she turned to look at him.

"Come for me..." she begged. "Come inside me..."

He came again, gasping, bending down over her and pushing his dick deep inside her. They looked into each other's eyes again, spent, and Sam rolled off her, Peta turning round to cuddle up next to him.

"This was a series of bad decisions" Sam said, looking at her, a mix of annoyance and arousal on his face.

"But...you did enjoy it," Peta said, moving herself onto his chest, and kissing him.

"Dammit Peta...it's my wedding tomorrow, the big one. I had just got over the idea you were never coming back into my life, and here you are," Sam said, gazing at her naked form with longing.

They sat there for a little while longer, in silence. The sounds of the waves lapping at the edge of the loch broke them from their sex induced stupor.

"I need to get back to the house and shower. Meet me tonight after the lights go out", Sam told her, getting up and changing back into his running gear.

Peta fondly grabbed his dick, and he laughed, looking down at her as she wanked his shaft. "How will I find you?"

"I'll drop a pin," Sam said, putting his dick away reluctantly. "We need to talk about all this."

Peta nodded. Sam kissed her goodbye, and left the tent. She heard him running up to the road, and his footsteps faded away. She looked round the tent and sighed. "That smell is going to drive me mad." She felt herself, she was sticky and sweaty from the sex, and Sam's come clung to her breasts still.

"Back in the loch I go," she thought.

The day was spent driving round the loch on the bike, stopping off to take photographs. She hiked to the top of the littlest mountain, and back down again (and was overtaken by some seriously fit Scots, most in their 70s. What was in the water here!) and found a little cafe to have some food around 3 o'clock. It was nearly 10pm before her phone buzzed, and she saw the pin drop.

She walked from the tent, and up the road. Sam was waiting for her by the dock out the front of the country house.

"So much to talk about," Sam said. "Did you have a good day today?"

"Ja, Danke".

"Good".

They sat on the edge of the loch, and stared out over the dark water.

"This day has been utterly surreal", Sam said.

"Yes, it has".

They sat in silence again.

"I love you", Sam said, "but..."

"I know".

They were silent once more.

"I think I knew we were going to end at some point," Peta found herself saying, "but I didn't want to acknowledge it."

"Me neither." Sam said.

"So today has been our break up sex," she said, laughing ruefully. She turned to look at him. There were tears in his eyes.

"Why didn't you just say yes?" He asked.

"We had the baby..."

"I would have loved that child as if she was my own," Sam replied.

"I know. I'm sorry. I made a mistake."

They turned back towards the lake. "You will always be there in the back of my head, you know", he said.

"Mine too."

Sam stood up, to go. "We need to say our goodbyes, Peta."

She nodded, and got up too. They were about to embrace, when the sound of laughter and giggles rang out.

"Into the trees," Sam said, and they ran to the bushes. They peered out. A couple had run to the dock they'd been sat on.

"Oh god," Sam said, "that's my brother in law and his girlfriend. We really don't want to see this."

Peta was watching the scene play out intently. Sam looked at her crossly. "Pet?"

"Okay, okay!" She said, reluctantly following him, looking back to see the brunette pull her top off, revealing two large breasts, and straddle a rather inviting looking dick.

"Peta."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said, leaving the scene, aroused and exasperated.

They returned to the country house, which was quiet and dark. "I'm sleeping in a separate room to her tonight," Sam told her. "I have to climb that pipe, and get into that window."